The present invention generally relates to battery processing apparatuses. It also relates to apparatuses and methods which are used to burnish, polish or otherwise provide a suitable attractive metallic finish to the terminal post of lead-acid batteries prior to shipment and/or sale.
It is often desirable to burnish battery terminal posts prior to the shipment and/or sale since highly polished battery terminals lend an attractive appearance to the overall look of the lead-acid storage battery and further provide a clean surface to which good electrical connections can be made. Heretofore, such burnishing has commonly been preformed either by a hand sanding, abrading or brushing operation or, alternatively, by utilizing a hand-held electric or air motor driven brush to polish the exterior surfaces of those terminals. When a motorized brush is utilized, the brush may be a cylinder having a multitude of inwardly depending bristles formed therein which define an interior brushing surface which is complementally configured to the exterior of the battery terminal to be burnished. Unfortunately, in continued service such bristles tend to bend and the brushing surface defined thereby are enlarged. Initially this bending results from the operator's inability to introduce and maintain the brushes in an aligned position throughout the buffing operation. Then, in order to obtain a suitably burnished surface, the operator must begin to manipulate the brush with respect to the exterior of the battery terminal in order contact all surfaces thereof. Unfortunately, this manipulation, such as tilting, orbiting, etc. of the brush further accentuates the problem of deforming or bending the metallic bristles, with the result that such brushes must be frequently replaced. Additionally, prior to replacement, the manipulation, tilting, etc. of the burnishing brushes with respect to the axes of the terminal tend to over burnish certain areas while leaving other areas unburnished. Since lead is a relatively soft metal, severe over burnishing of particular portions could, in extreme instances, affect the appearance and/or final connections made to those terminals.